About Me

Well where do I start!! My Names is Joanne Henson. I am Very Happily Married to Paul of 16 years & Have 2 wonderful Children Carla & Ian We are Located in North west of Cumbria and own a little smallholding with 3 acres of land where my dogs enjoy the fresh air and run around all day living a fantastic life! We live close to the Solway Firth and enjoy days walking along the beach. We also keep Horses, Pygmy goats, Chickens, Rabbits, Cats, And not forgetting to mention our African Grey Parrot Georgie Boy! We devote all our time to our Animals. I have always had a True love for animals all my life and have always wanted to do what I can to help them. When I was Younger I always had a pet of some sort Mainly rabbits or hamsters but when I was 12 My Mum & Dad bought me My first Horse, He was called Fly and I loved him so much I was out riding him every day and going on long treks around the countryside, I also took him to a couple of shows, But never won anything, He was a bit of a frisky thing and didnt like to stand still for too long. Although we loved to Jump and I would take him into the arena and we would be in there all day jumping over different Heights, He was really good at that.

Anyway as time went on I got older (As you do) and met a Boy got married had kids the usual stuff, we always had pets for the children and they grew up learning and helping out with them. We have always took in Unwanted neglected or injured animals and since my children have grown up and more independent, I have started getting more and more involved with different aspects of animals. In 2000 I completed 2 Diploma's one in Animal care and one in Animal Health, Which then led me to open a little pet Shop called Jo's La'l Pet Shop in a Town called Egremont where I Ran the shop and bred few small animals to sell on. Whilst I liked working in the shop having all these pets around me, My worry was, what happened to the animals after they left my care. Not knowing everyone who came in my shop and bought a little pet of me, Whilst I could Usually judge who was right and wrong to have a pet, it was getting to the stage where I could just not part with any of them, and the more people that came in my shop wanting to buy rabbits or hamsters or guinea pigs the more I found myself turning customers away. So we decided to sell the shop. We then bought a Smallholding just outside of Wigton with over 3 Acres of land where I can take in un-wanted pets or animals that just need a good home where they get fed and watered and a nice clean warm bed. Over the past 4 years I have re-homed lots of different animals, Including Cats, Goats, Chickens, Geese, Ducks, Rabbits, Tortoises and Shetland Ponies. I often get people ringing me for advise and help because they can no longer look after their pets anymore due to un foreseen circumstances or in some cases because they have been abandoned or found. We opened another pet shop in Wigton P.J Aquatics We sold tropical and cold water fish, but nothing furry. NO pets at all. I would tell people to visit the local pet rescue place where there were lots of animals needing new homes, this way I was doing my part for all the animals. I enjoyed it but I had quite a few animals of my own to look after and didnt like the thought of them being alone all day so we decided to sell up once again... NO More Pets Shops For ME!

In the time I was off work we decided to get a Little Black Miniature Schnauzer puppy called Poppy and she was the start of my minis. I absolutely love this breed of dog and they make fabulous pets, such full of life and have Fantastic temperaments great for any walks of life from young children to old people. I just had to have another one for poppy to play with and This Time a Pepper/salt and she is called Holly, I spent my times playing with them and learning them all the basic commands and we love to go out in the fresh air and they love to run around the fields sniffing everything out and go on long walks to Grunes point on the Solway Firth. With all my research and looking into the breed even more I then came across the white miniature schnauzer and I was totally amazed by the look of this white colour. I found I was fascinated and although only just recognised with the Kennel club here in the UK, I thought that I would really like to get a white mini and hopefully one day breed and promote the breed even more. That is when I searched for a good 12 months and finally found our Bear from a Very Good breeder who had imported his parents over from Czech Republic & Sweden and produced a lovely Litter and Bear was one of them. Having numerous world and international champions in his pedigree, With all the grandparents being international champions. Sire : Valentino Svarcava Von Serimalb (IMP CZE) Dam : Bamburs Ivory Liberty Bell Von Mukoosa )IMPSWE) sired by Multi Champion Euro Snowhite v. d. Spikke We now have 5 Miniature Schnauzers,As We kept a Black girl from Holly's first litter and called her Roxy, and also have another White Girl which we brought over from Ireland Called Candy and hopefully one day Have a lovely litter of white Miniature Schnauzers. All My Miniature schnauzer are Fantastic and I can't praise them enough for their wonderful characters and fantastic temperaments. As my dogs are Proper dogs who go out all the time for plenty of walks and get Very mucky. I thought it would be a good idea to learn how to groom them and clip them properly so I could do this for myself and know every last bit of The miniature schnauzer. That Is when I decided to go on a Dog grooming training course with Scruffy Pups Of Darlington. They are the North Easts Top Dog Groomers who Train students like me to very high top quality City & Guilds Standard, My Tutor Shaun Leach Is an Excellent Teacher and I must say, "He knows his stuff", Shaun has been grooming for over 20 years with his partner Shane Boniface and Now Shaun teaches advanced dog grooming at Durhams Houghall College.Shaun taught me all the basics of dog grooming I have become skilled in handling and restraining all types and different sizes of dogs. He taught me how to use a wide variety of equipment how to bath and dry all the different hair types ready for clipping and grooming. I have now mastered the basics of clipping, stripping and scissoring Ready for furthering my career with a City & Guilds. I really enjoyed my time with Shaun and Shane. I have now set up my own Grooming Studio at Home and have top of the range equipment. I have the best of both worlds Being at home with all my Gorguess Dogs & animals all day and Giving people A Dog Grooming Service. Which I really enjoy and By doing the dog grooming it helps to feed and care for the animals that I have rescued. So here we are today with a Whole new world and lifestyle and basically we are living a dream Living in the countryside in a nice house our own land with all these wonderful animals, and we are very proud of what we have achieved up to date and since having Bear we have thought long and hard and had very long talks and done even more research into the breed, and decided that we would promote the breed even more and let other people know how wonderful these little dogs are.